In an exclusive interview with This is Futbol, Keith Gillespie, who made 148 appearances for Newcastle United, has claimed his former club could become as good as Manchester City if their potential takeover goes through.
Mike Ashley has owned Newcastle since 2007 which has seen the club experience their only two relegations during the Premier League era and have battled against the drop since they came back up in 2017.
Will Newcastle have new owners next season?
Yes!
No!
Ashley and the Premier League are set to go through arbitration at some point this year to determine if the potential new owners, backed by PIF, were given fair treatment during the owners and directors tests.
Speaking on how they could become as good as Man City and what would be needed for that to happen, Gillespie exclusively told This is Futbol:
“If a takeover of Newcastle was to happen from some rich Saudi owner then they could go and do what Man City have done, no question about it.
“Sadly though, they don’t have somebody like that at the minute, but they’ll be hoping that a takeover does happen at some stage because the fans haven’t been happy with Mike Ashley for a long time.”
The Sports Direct tycoon is reportedly still confident he will win his legal battle against the Premier League which would leave the door open for Amanda Staveley’s consortium to complete their takeover of the club.
Since Staveley’s consortium pulled out of the deal there has only been one apparent potential buyer, Henry Mauriss, but even he was dismissed as a time-waster quickly.